Gaia'shome.

Gaia grew angry. "Stop! Just fucking stop." If he didn't care, then why had he saved her so many times? "I don't want or need your help!" She hated that he had risked so much to save her. "Don't follow me this time." She didn't care how much her ankle or stomach hurt, she was done carring. "Thanks for helping me all of the times you did. But this time, i'm done." She grabbed her dagger and sighed. She remembered having violent outbursts as a child. There was no point in apologizing, Regenard wouldn't care. Gaia stood slowly and walked into the bedroom, calmly shutting the door before jumping onto the bed, screaming as loud as she could into the pillow, over and over until no sound came out. She had damaged her Vocal cords once again.

Regenard blinked slightly."Girl's got a temper on her," he said, looking at Ohanzee and smiling slightly. He chuckled for the first time in years."Kid," he said, "Help me board this place up. I'm making it secure for you two."He grabbed some wood from the basement and boarded over the windows."I'm going to go out and look for supplies tomorrow," he said.

Ohanzee stood and eyed Regenard."Wait, wait, 'for you two'? Are you just leaving again?" he asked. He didn't want Regenard leaving with this many injuries, he didn't care if he told him he worried or cared too much. He just didn't think he'd survive with these injuries if he left for good.

Regenard stared at him solemnly."I've got goals, kid. You two need to take care of each other. I don't want either of you hurt in my ambitions," he said, "And don't worry about me. I've survived worse."He was running through a plan in his head. He wanted to free the world. But... how?

Once Gaia calmed down she walked into the kitchen and took a large gulp of the tea, She did not make eye contact with Regenard or Ohanzee. She wished they would leave, she thought she had found a place to be alone, instead she only wound up with a man who she doesn't understand, and another who she didn't trust. Her stomach hurt, and so did her ankle. She knew there was river near by, When she was little she swam a lot. She wanted to at least put her feet in the water. "Guys, I'm going out." she quickly walked out of the cottage and made her way to the sound of rushing water.

Regenard stared at her as she left and frowned."Kid, stay here. I keep telling her you can't bloody leave at night," he said, grabbing his rifle from the table, "And I'll hurry back. Just bodyguard duty this time."He followed her silently through the night, and hid behind a tree when she stopped by the river.

Gaia had the strange sense that someone, or something was following her, but she ignored it. She wanted to swim. She stripped down slowly and looked at her wounds and admired them with a smirk, She hadn't been this beaten up since she'd fallen so long ago. She slowly stepped in the water and shivered in delight. There was nothing better than cold water covering your body, she thought. She went completely under water and came back up, taking in a deep breath before laying back and later herself float. Gaia didn't have a care in the world at that moment.

Regenard kept watching her.He was aware there were mutated creatures as a result of the fallout, so he watched both the water and the land. He saw a shadow shift on the opposite bank and his eyes immediately locked onto the area.

The woods were full of Cadets, the bastards. When he had his chance, they'd be the first to go. He climbed the tree he was behind silently and watched the area through his scope, alert for any more movement.

Gaia heard movement in the woods, which worried her. She got herself into the water, so she wasn't really exposed. Whatever pervert was watching her was not going to get anymore joy out of doing so. She sighed, her throat hurt. If something attacked her out here she couldn't screamed for help. She climbed onto the bank, opposite of the cabin. Someone put their arms around her throat and dragged her off quickly. She struggled against them but once they had her far from the river, the tied her to a tree, "Stay here," they snickered and walked back towards the river, hopefully to grab her clothes. She sighed, Maybe she should just stop even thinking about leaving the home. She figured Regenard would find her eventually, it was only a matter of time.

Regenard was quick to see the man return.His bullet was even faster.The man had a 50 caliber bullet hole in his brain, and his blood leaked into the river, turning the water a dark red. He hopped down the tree and walked to where Gaia's clothes were and picked them up slowly. He crossed the river- it was shallow, only chest deep, and since he wasn't wearing a shirt, only his pants got wet. After climbing out, he walked to where he had seen the man take Gaia, and cut her loose."Don't lose yourself again," he said.

Gaia felt extremely uncomfortable, She was completely nude infront of him once again. She was quick to pull her clothes on and hugged Regenard, It was all she could do to thank him. She smiled a little and held up her wrist which had the bow tied to it. Gaia started walking away, but not in the direction of the cabin. As much as she wanted to stay, she couldn't. Being around Regenard had sparked something different in her. She didn't understand and she hated that feeling. She turned to him and smiled, mouthing "See you later," Gaia waved shyly and turned away, continuing to walk, she didn't really care what was ahead of her.

Regenard smiled faintly."Go back. There's something for you there. And tell Ohanzee I didn't keep my promise," Regenard said. He took his folded and wet mask from his pocket and stretched it over his face, and slung his rifle over his shoulder. He ignored the fact that his pants were soaked and that he didn't have a shirt. He was sure he'd get them back eventually.He rushed to get ahead of Gaia, and walked in front of her, obviously heading in the same direction.

Gaia hugged him from behind tightly. She managed to talk, though it made her throat feel like it was going to tear open. "No." Gaia finally came to the conclusion. She didn't want him to leave, no matter how much she acted like she did, The thought didn't actually appeal to her. "I'm not staying with Ohanzee, he'll burden me." she forced Regenard to turn around. "Don't go."

Regenard smirked before being forced to turn around."Go back to him. You two would get along well if you just talked," he said, "He's not that bad of a kid."He stared into her eyes, his own eyes having become less cloudy, regaining their shine. He had decided that he'd free the Wasteland the only way anyone's ever freed anything else: with its own people. First he needed mental augmentation, and he needed to heal. He knew exactly where to look, too.

"Fine." Gaia said reluctantly. She walked back, but instead of going to the cottage, She ran. As far as she could. She wasn't ever going to see Regenard or Ohanzee again, she'd make sure of that. She ran pretty fast, despite the fact that her ankle was causing her large amounts of pain. She hoped Regenard would stay safe, Ohanzee too, Gaia pulled her hair up into a pony tail and ran out of the forest, Into the Dead Lands.

Ohanzee had been watching out the window and saw Gaia run by. He didn't see any sign of Regenard as far as he could see, so he assumed he was leaving again. Ohanzee sighed, tired of the same thing happening. He never appreciated people that don't keep their promises. He was vaguely upset, but he headed in the general direction Gaia had come from, hoping to see any sight of Regenard so he could ensure he be safe. He saw him a little ways away and hid in the shadows, making no noise, a skill he had developed. He didn't want to annoy the man, but he wanted to make sure he was safe, so he was going to follow him one way or another.

Regenard sighed."Fuck. FUCK FUCK FUCK!" he yelled into the air. He ran back to the shack and grabbed his coat and shirt. He fastened his mask and grabbed all the ammunition he could."Ohanzee, you'd better fucking stay here, you bastard," he said. He rushed out the door with any medical aid or assistance, and ran all night and day, tracking Gaia.

Ohanzee watched Regenard. How did he not notice he was already out of the cottage? He sighed, he hadn't gotten any sleep really, barely here and there. He didn't want to go back into the cottage, it would only attract Cadets. He climbed up a tree and sat on a branch, he wasn't very far from the cottage anyways. It was too broken down anyhow, Regenard only boarded up a couple windows. Not the most secure place. Besides, he's slept in the trees of the forest before, he knew how to handle himself. But he would stay in the general area, seeing as Regenard wanted him to stay there and wait. But he wondered if he really wanted Ohanzee to wait.

Ohanzee awoke to the sounds of someone on his tree branch, he jumped up, already having a knife ready to see a small group of Cadets, probably traveling together. He saw about four of them, one shot at him, barely missing his head. He ran up and slit that one's throat quickly before the Cadet could shoot again. Another Cadet stabbed him in the arm, he turned and stabbed that one in the stomach. He was determined to get rid of them all, but he needed a gun, he couldn't use close combat weapons with these men, they had guns. He jumped down onto the lower branches, jumping his way down and streaking to where he last seen a gun near the cottage. He dodged bullets as well as he could, few had been fired anyways. He grabbed the gun, it was lying on the ground, before he could turn, he was shot in the back, he didn't even pause, it only angered him. He spun around and shot one of the remaining Cadets straight through the heart. The remaining Cadet fired at his head, barely missing it. The bullet had gotten so close, Ohanzee could feel it. He shot this Cadet in the shoulder so he would drop his weapon, then in the head. He was satisfied with his work, he had gotten rid off all four of the Cadets. He walked painfully into the cottage to wrap his wounds and remove the bullet, it was painful, but he managed to do so. He had to take off his shirt to do so, revealing tons of large as well as small scars from all the beatings he received as a child. He sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, he was exhausted and blood loss from his wounds wasn't going to help. He didn't bother putting his shirt back on, he just needed some sleep.

When Gaia finally reached the cottage, she collapsed inside in the middle of the floor, she was shaking bad. She waited for Regenard to enter. She felt sick and broken, her ankle hurt and her stomach was going to kill her. She just wanted to the pain to go away. She threw up again. She didn't see Ohanzee. "Shit!" She screamed loudly in angry and agony.

ENTER GAIA'S HOME.Regenard walked slowly to the cottage, his vision returned. He entered and walked past Gaia, and returned with a cup of water."It'll make you feel better," he said. His eyes wandered up to Ohanzee."The bastard got himself shot."

Ohanzee hadn't even fallen asleep when Gaia and Regenard got back, but he stayed put and kept his eyes shut, he was just too tired. He sighed at Regenard's remark. "Well, I killed them, so it's not that bad when you think about it," he stated. Where he got shot in his back didn't hurt near as much as where he got stabbed in the arm, but they both hurt and he had no plans on moving for a while.

Gaia drank the water greedily only to puke it up in a mixture of blood and water. She frowned. "I'm sorry Regenard." She needed to wash up but she was too weak to move. She decided to drag herself to the bathroom anyway and made a pathetic attempt to move.

Regenard sighed and walked to Ohanzee, taking the last of the bandages from the table. He wrapped Ohanzee's arm and the wound on his back."Listen, kid. You need to take care of that girl when I'm gone. More so, you need to take care of yourself," he said. He patted Ohanzee's unwounded shoulder. He then stood and got a towel and began to clean the floor, humming to himself softly, his eyes still not yet holding the same shine they did.

Ohanzee looked at the man cleaning the floor."When you're gone?" he asked, "you cant just keep running off. If you tell me to take care of her, you obviously care for her, so why leave?" He sighed, "though I don't think me trying to get you to stay will make much of a difference, you won't listen to me even though I am just trying to help," he stated. He stood, swayed a bit, and ending up smacking his back into the wall and just standing there leaning against it. He hadn't meant to slam into the wall, he had lost his balance.